Now is the summer of our discontent turned glorious...
summer... by this son of... Ramon Garciaparra.

Prior to His return, the Red Sox had lost 16 games by one run or in extra
innings. In those 16 games, His four replacements managed these numbers:

7-for-60, a .117 batting average, with 0 RBIs and 33 men left on base.

Hopefully, this is the last time I will have to update these stats. But you
must admit they are staggering. In our 16 most difficult losses, our shortstops
contributed not at all. A lot has been made of the nine total errors made by
the four-headed replacement, but not enough has been made of the fact that when
we really needed one of them to get a hit, they were worse than a
below-average-hitting pitcher.

Glad some are tickled that the Twins just got Rick Reed, giving them four
All-Stars in their rotation. Let's see... Twins get Reed, Yankees get
Hitchcock, A's got Dye... hate to see the competition getting better, but the
Duke's in a tough spot... while Urbina or latest-rumor Quantrill would be a
boost... would hate to give up Fossum or Diaz... would gladly part with Izzy for
pitching...

As I've said all along, the Yanks will win the east with their slide-proof
staff, leaving us with the Mariners in the first round if we're lucky enough to
win the wild card. So our epic trip would probably be
Mariners-Yankees-(Braves/D-Backs/Cubs). I'm sure I will be the picture of
serenity in October.

After 13 straight against Indians and Yankees to end August and start September,
we close with Tampa Bay, Detroit, Baltimore and Detroit again. By the way, the
unbalanced schedule sucks. Why, for example, do we play our 19 games against
Toronto and all six of our games against Kansas City before they dump, while our
competitors can fatten up on them once they've unloaded?

The “Curt’s Pitch
for ALS” program is a joint effort by Curt and Shonda Schilling, and The
ALS Association Mass Chapter to strike out Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Curt and Shonda
will be contributing $25,000 to The ALS Association Massachusetts
Chapter, and they are asking fans to contribute as well. All proceeds
will benefit research and patient services for those in Massachusetts
affected by the disease. Program participants will receive different
incentive prizes based on the dollar amount per strikeout that they
pledge.
Please
click here to learn more about the program.